ALMOST two months on from Freedom Day and coronavirus cases are once again on the up.
The number of hospitalized patients in the UK rose by 37,622 today.
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But while 1,063 Covid patients were admitted to hospital on Monday 6 September – the highest figure since February 24 – hospitalisations are still far lower than when the virus peaked.
The UK has also given 48,370,000.340 doses of the Covid vaccine to its first patients. This protects against all variants.
According to government data, 16 Covid variants were discovered in England as of September 1. The majority of these are also found in the UK.
The most prevalent variant of 16 Covids, the Delta variant (which is the most widespread), does not cause more severe illness or make vaccines less effective.
This is the complete list of variants that the UK is keeping an eye on and the number of cases it has seen.
ALPHA
The Alpha variant was first detected in the UK and was first sequenced here in September 2020.
It has been detected in 277,951 cases in the UK, of which 227,217 are in England.
Scotland has had 29,123 Alpha cases while Wales and Northern Ireland have had 12,466, 9,145 and 9,145 respectively.
This variant has spread to over 50 countries. The N501Y mutation seen in the Alpha variant may aid the virus’ spread.
BETA
This variant was first detected in South Africa and was first sequenced in the UK in December 2020.
So far, there have been 1,110 confirmed cases in the UK.
996 of these were discovered in England, 62 cases in Scotland, 43 in Wales, and nine in Northern Ireland.
The N501Y mutation is also shared by Beta, which means that the virus could spread faster.
E484K is a key mutation that Beta shares, which could allow the virus to bypass some of the body’s immune defenses.
DELTA
A total of 669,401 Delta cases have been recorded in the UK so far.
These were found in England (556.542), Scotland (58.022), Northern Ireland (33.3552), Wales (21.2855) and Wales (21.1285).
Some changes have been made to Delta’s spike protein, which is the part of virus that attaches with human cells.
This could make it more likely to spread, but there is no evidence that it causes serious illness or makes vaccines less effective.
Public Health England analysis showed that the Delta variant of the vaccine caused more hospitalisations than the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines.
A single dose of the vaccine was not as effective in preventing illness from Delta than it was against Alpha.
VOC-21FEB-02
Just 46 cases of the VOC-21FEB-02 variant have been recorded in the UK – with 45 of these in England and just one in Northern Ireland.
The variant has not been detected in Scotland or Wales.
The first case of the variant was detected in the UK on December 2020.
GAMMA
Gamma was first detected in Japan in travellers from Brazil in January 2021 and was first detected in the UK in February 2021.
The variant has been confirmed in the UK in 178 cases. 253 of these were discovered in England, 23 in Scotland, and two in Wales.
Gamma has also the N501Y mutation that makes it more effective at spreading the virus to cells.
It also contains the E484K mutation which may help the virus bypass immune defenses.
KAPPA
This variant was first detected in India.
UK has recorded 517 cases so far, with 471 in England.
Scotland has recorded 27 cases, Wales has 15 and Northern Ireland has four.
VUI – 21APR-03
This variant was also first detected in India. It is responsible in 18 total cases in England.
This rare variant is unknown.
VUI-21FEB-01
This variant was first detected in the UK in December 2020.
It has been detected in 79 cases in the UK, all of which were found in England.
ETA
The Eta variant was first deteced in the UK in December 2020.
It has been tracked 512 times in the UK with 460 of these cases in England.
Scotland has recorded 40 Eta cases, Wales 10, and Northern Ireland 2.
It has been discovered in 23 countries.
VUI-21FEB-04
This variant was first detected in England, with 314 cases confirmed in the country so far.
Other than the 11 found in Scotland, 43 of these cases have been confirmed in Northern Ireland.
ZETA
This variant was first detected in Brazil and was first sequenced in the UK in November 2020.
Sixty Zetas have been identified in the UK, 54 of which were in England.
THETA
This variant was first detected in the Philippines.
So far, there have been seven cases in England and three in Scotland.
VUI-21MAY-01
A total of 185 cases of this variant have been recorded in the UK so far.
Except for one case in Wales, all of these cases were found in England.
VUI-21MAY-02
This variant was first detected in Thailand (in travellers from Egypt).
This variant has been found in 158 cases.
These included 147 in England, four cases in Scotland, four cases in Wales, and three in Northern Ireland.
LAMBDA
This variant was first detected in Peru in August 2020.
Only nine cases have been reported in the UK, with eight cases being in England and one in Northern Ireland.
MU
There have been 53 MU cases found in the UK.
Total 47 were found in England, 3 in Scotland, 2 in Northern Ireland, and 1 in Wales.
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